Emily Ann Prosser was born in 1859 in Holmer, Hereford, the eldest child of James*, an agricultural labourer and Emily (Snr). Emily’s parents went on to have three more children - Sarah Annie (1862), George (1864) and Susan (1866) but when Emily was just 7 years old, her father sadly died. That is the same year that Emily’s younger sister Susan was born so things must have been very tough for the young family. Presumably due to her father’s death, Emily was then sent out to work and became a servant aged 12 and then a parlourmaid at 22 years old.
At 24, Emily married William Broomfield and moved away from Herefordshire to settle in the Manchester area. I’d love to know how they met each other! In 1884, at the age of 25, Emily gave birth to her only child, a son named Albert. The family were living on Poynton Street in Hulme and William was a lithographic printer.
When Emily was 46, her son married Lydia Perks (who is often cited on records as Lily). Albert and Lydia had 4 children: Albert Junior, Harry, Emily and Margery and all the Broomfields lived together in Hulme.
In early 1915, William Broomfield went to watch Manchester City vs Manchester United but unfortunately he didn't get to see the match. Before it began, he collapsed and died, as reported in The Umpire newspaper.
Meanwhile, in 1910, 18 School Road, Sale was built and was originally a sweetshop run by John Alfred Ormrod. After her husband's death, Emily took on the shop. She was 57 years old and clearly one of a growing number of female entrepreneurs, stepping into roles in the First World War. The shop was named The Gem and was a tobacconist and confectioner. It was from this location at School Road that her son Albert was attested to the army in November 1915.
In 1919 tragedy struck, Emily and the late William’s only child, Albert, was taken ill in Germany with bronchopneumonia. He had survived the war but was hospitalised on the day he received his papers to come home. Albert did not survive. His mother Emily was now 60 years old.
In the following years, Emily and her daughter-in-law Lydia ran The Gem together selling tobacco and sweets. In the 1939 census, Emily is listed as a retired shopkeeper living on High Lane in Chorlton. She died at 85 years old in 1944 and is buried in Southern Cemetery, Chorlton.
*When I was researching, I found four court records of a James Prosser being imprisoned in Herefordshire for theft, arson and even manslaughter! However, I can’t be sure that this was Emily’s father or just a local with the same name. More research is required!
Please note, I have put together this information myself with the invaluable help of Michael J Riley, the team at Trafford Local Studies and George Cogswell’s website: Trafford War Dead. If anything appears incorrect, please let me know! Claire